By Danielle Daniels
Tommy Eichenberg OSU LB Talks about the defense & Western Kentucky 9 13 2023 W KY Week 3.mp3
THE TOMMY EICHENBERG FILE
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- Position:
- Linebacker
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- Height:
- 6-2
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- Weight:
- 239
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- Hometown:
- Cleveland, Ohio
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- Last School:
- St. Ignatius
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- Year:
- Graduate Student
Follow on Social Media
Twitter: @tommyike41
Instagram: @tommyeichenberg
Ohio State Overview
• Tommy is one of the outstanding linebackers in college football and will be a major awards candidate in 2023 as he enters the season with 186 career tackles, 18.5 TFLs, 31 games played and 17 starts
• The fifth-year senior graduated in May 2023 with his degree in real estate, and he is a two-time Academic all-Big Ten honoree and OSU Scholar-Athlete
• He is coming off an honors-laden 2022 campaign in which he led Ohio State in tackles with 120, TFLs with 12 and was fourth with four passes defensed (one interception, a 15-yard pick-6 vs. Iowa, and three pass break-ups)
• Ranked fifth nationally, and first in the Big Ten, with 77 solo stops and ranked in the Top 25 nationally in tackles per game with 9.23
• 77 solo stops are most in nine seasons by a Buckeye (Ryan Shazier, 101 in 2013) and the second-most by a Buckeye in the last 20 years
• Named first-team all-Big Ten Conference (coaches and media teams) and second-team All-American by virtually every organization
• Named a finalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and was a semifinalist for the Butkus Award
• Also earned second-team All-America honors in 2022 by virtually every major organization: AP, FWAA, Walter Camp and The Sporting News
• Had four double-figure tackling games in 2022: 15 vs. Penn State, 14 vs. Wisconsin and 13 vs. both Northwestern and Maryland
• Selected as the Lott IMPACT Trophy player of the week back-to-back after wins over Penn State (15 tackles) and Iowa (seven tackles and a pick-6)
• Named the Bronko Nagurski national defensive player of the week after nine-tackle, two-sack game vs. Notre Dame
• Had a breakout 2021 campaign when he was second on the team in tackles with 64, played in all 13 games and started four times
• Terrific against Utah in the Rose Bowl with a Rose Bowl-record 17 tackles, including 11 solo stops
• Recorded seven tackles in the wins over Maryland and Michigan State
• Played in five games, on special teams, in his first two seasons and he did red-shirt the 2019 campaign after playing in only four games
Honors & Awards
2023: Graduated in May with his degree in real estate
2022: Team captain, First-team all-Big Ten Conference (coaches & media), Lott IMPACT Trophy finalist, Butkus Award semifinalist, Second team All-American (Walter Camp, CBS Sports, FWAA, Associated Press and The Sporting News), Academic All-Big Ten Conference
2021: Academic all-Big Ten Conference; Rose Bowl-record 17 tackles vs. Utah
2020: Academic all-Big Ten, OSU Scholar-Athlete
2019: OSU Scholar-Athlete
More on Tommy
• He was a four-star recruit according to 247Sports.com who was a consensus top-10 ranked player in the state of Ohio as a high school senior
• One of the top-20 ranked linebacker prospects by all of the major recruiting services
• A first-team All-Ohio selection as a senior by the Ohio Prep Sports Writers Association
• Moved from outside to middle linebacker early in the 2018 season and finished with 126 total tackles (80 solo, 46 assists), eight sacks, 23 tackles-for-loss and five pass breakups
• Also had seven quarterback hurries, five forced fumbles and an interception
• St. Ignatius started 0-2 but finished 8-1 and made the state playoffs with Eichenberg at middle linebacker
• Included in those eight wins was a 21-7 win over eventual state champion St. Edward
• Led the team with 81 tackles and 7.5 sacks as a junior
• A state qualifier for the St. Ignatius track and field team in the shot put and finished eighth at the state championship meet in 2018
• Parents are Heather and Gregg Eichenberg
• Brother, Liam, was an All-American tackle at Notre Dame and is in his third season with the Miami Dolphins